Lifestyle

Jessy Mendiola recalls hard-won battle with bulimia

Jessy Mendiola: "It doesn’t matter how long it takes for you to find inner peace and whatever works for you, just stick to that. I am far from perfect but this is who I am and this is how I love myself. I love myself enough to eat what I want to make myself feel good. I love myself enough to move everyday because I want to live my life as best as possible. I know it’s hard sometimes but you just gotta stand back up and try a

Jessy Mendiola opened up about her battle with bulimia and binge-eating disorder in her Instagram post on Tuesday, March 5.

The 26-year-old ABS-CBN actress wrote, "Losing/maintaining weight has always been a struggle for me.

"I only started taking my health seriously some time last year.

"It's so hard to be in tip-top shape especially when a lot of people try to put you down and tell you how you're supposed to look.

"Sometimes you're too thin, sometimes too fat."

The Star Magic talent also uploaded photos of her finess journey in the last few years and what she has learned from it.

Jessy admitted that she initially had "unrealistic body goals" as motivation to work out and maintain a healthy diet.

"I was depressed and heartbroken at that time (2013) and I gained 25lbs (3rd pic)."

The actress continued, "I still kept pushing myself to work out every day.

"I suffered from Bulimia and B.E.D (Binge Eating Disorder), desperate to lose weight in a short period of time – from 135lbs I went down to 103lbs (4th pic).

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"I starved myself just to lose unwanted weight... to look 'perfect' but I was so unhappy.

"I couldn't live my life the way I wanted to.

"I was usually weak and 'lutang' because I didn’t have enough nutrients in my body."

According to bulimia.com, Bulimia is a mental illness characterized by periods of binge-eating followed by some kind of purging behavior usually done via vomiting, fasting, laxative abuse, diet pills, exercise or diuretics.

On the other hand, nedc.com.au characterize Binge Eating Disorder as "regular episodes of binge eating accompanied by feelings of loss of control, and in many cases, guilt, embarrassment" without the purging behavior.

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PHOTO: @senorita_jessy on Instagram

Jessy's stuggle with her eating disorders and depression lasted until 2017, when she reached her heaviest weight at 140 pounds.

"This kept going until 2016 when I suddenly gained all the weight back and eventually hit my heaviest weight, 140lbs.

"Because of all the hate online, the struggle with myself kept going until 2017 (5th pic)."

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PHOTO: @Senorita_jessy on Instagram

Jessy, who now maintains a 24-inch waistline, said it all changed in 2018 with the help of her nutritionist Nadine Tencgo, fitness coach Kat Geronimo-Garcia, and boyfriend Luis Manzano.

"It was only last year when I started changing my workouts and eating habits with the help of @bodybymamakat & @nadinetengcoand of course to @luckymanzano.

"He made me feel better every time I felt so insecure about myself and he helped me recover from my depression and made me feel loved every single day."

Jessy noted how finding her inner peace and overcoming her depression helped her maintain a healthy lifestyle.

She wrote, "Sorry for this long caption. I guess all I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t matter how long it takes for you to find inner peace and whatever works for you, just stick to that.

"I am far from perfect but this is who I am and this is how I love myself.

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"I love myself enough to eat what I want to make myself feel good.

"I love myself enough to move everyday because I want to live my life as best as possible.

"I know it’s hard sometimes but you just gotta stand back up and try again."

Toward the end of her post, Jessy left an encouraging message to her followers who are also experiencing the same.

"To whoever is reading this, accept yourself and work hard to be the best version of yourself.